Fanboy Corps: A Comics Blog

A Little Time With Booster Gold #1 SPOILERS

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Maximus) — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 03:08:00 +0000

Right out of the pages of 52 (that good DC weekly book), comes Booster Gold's new Monthly series. The book is really well written, and shows Geoff Johns talent with yet another B-list character.

At first, we get a brief history about Booster and his time shenanigans, followed by his latest attempt to impress the Justice League.
The real meat of the story focuses on more of the time travel elements from 52, and why Booster Gold is still a very important element for the current DCU. Johns and his co-writer Jeff Katz, do a great job of mixing great story elements together in this one. I love the scene where Boosters roommate is playing Madden football on his xbox, while wearing the Supernova costume. The line "I am 38th in the nation at Madden right now; ask any fourteen year old...that's good!" was hilarious.
One thing that Geoff Johns is great at is leaving me craving the next issue. At the end of this book, I had 3 questions:
1. What is Boosters Role in Final Crisis?
2. Who is the mysterious figure that attacks his roommate?
3. WTF is going on with Hal Jordan and Sinestro, and what part will it play in The Sinestro Corps War?

If you loved the Geoff Johns continuity focus of Infinite Crisis, or the Rip Hunter action from 52, you'll like this book. It is everything I expected from Johns and a great monthly in a sea of questionable event titles.

THE ALL-NEW BOOSTER GOLD #1
Written by Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz; Art and Cover by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund

Exploding from the pages of 52 and exploring the timeline of the DC Universe comes a new monthly book featuring the greatest super-hero history will never know: Booster Gold!

Following the universe altering conclusion of 52, Booster Gold wants what's due to him — a spot on the Justice League of America! But the time stream's in trouble, and Booster Gold is in the center of it! Now he must make a choice: reclaim his former glory or do the right thing, forgoing the credit.

ALL-NEW Booster Gold will take you through time and space, to the greatest moments of the DCU that have happened and will happen.

"52 Pick-Up" begins in this extra-sized issue #1! Someone is exploiting the ravaged time stream, hoping to eliminate the world's greatest heroes — and only Booster Gold can stop them. But, really — Booster Gold? Why him? What does Rip Hunter truly want? And what shocking figure is behind it all?

And coming up in the months ahead in DC's time spanning monthly: the world's greatest Green Lantern — Sinestro, Jonah Hex, Barbara "Batgirl" Gordon, Flash and Kid Flash, and plenty more of DC's super stars from throughout its past and future!

DC Universe | 32pg. | Color | $2.99 US

On Sale August 15, 2007

Superman WAS Supernova; and why Conner Kent died

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Maximus) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 06:23:00 +0000

As I was shopping for some oldies yesterday, I ran across a 52 puzzle piece. For some time, my self and the other FBCers thought that perhaps Superman was Supernova during 52. While it turned out that Booster Gold was in fact the mysterious hero, Kal-el had in fact been Supernova, way back in 1968...

Behold Worlds Finest #178, from 1968.

Superman losses his powers, and becomes a "normal" superhero in this issue. Sound familiar? I guess Geoff Johns and company know a thing or two about continuity.

Another funny tidbit I picked up was on a local radio show in Aspen. They were talking about the Death's of Comic Heroes, when one of the hosts mentioned that Superboy had been killed off because of an estate dispute of one of the creators of Superman: Jerry Siegel.

Wikipedia has a section on this controversy, which is interesting. I hadn't heard this side of the story yet. So, sorry all of you Conner fans, blame the Siegel family for the disappearance of your Superboy.

GREEN LANTERN: SINESTRO CORPS SPECIAL..is it good?? If you think AMAZING is good!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Maximus) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 06:10:00 +0000

I WILL TRY TO TO SPOIL ANYTHING HERE!

WOW, just when I thought things had plateaued with DC, this graces me with it's omnipotence. This book is so good for a one shot, that I can't even sleep.

The Skinny:
Sinestro is forming his own corps to purge the universe of evil and set things straight. Wait till you read what he says to transform.

Something is happening at the sciencells. Guy Gardner has a hilarious moment.

John Stewart makes a GL sniper rifle-nuff said.

ION, ION, ION....

The art is incredible, the writing is superb. If you don't read this comic, don't ever talk to me again, because you are a philistine, and have no idea what you are missing.

-MORE TO FOLLOW!!!

COUNTDOWN.....giant hands will kill you.

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Maximus) — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 04:24:00 +0000

I know that many, many DCU geeks are scratching their heads right now, trying to wrap their minds around COUNTDOWN.

As far as this series is concerned, it's fun to read.. but that is all I can say about it, for the moment.

The PROS:

It is cool having the Monitors as the "Guardians" of the multi-verse. Thus far, they remind me of the "Agents" in THE MATRIX, with a conscience. Bad monitor, who I have named "Terminator", has begun to "Erase" the anomalies in the multiverse. Cool idea, but I need to see where it is going.

The BLEED, and all of the other multi-verse gateways are an interesting concept, although I wish I would have read more "New Gods", so I could understand that aspect of the BLEED'S relevance.

The concept of characters jumping between universes that coexist on different vibrational frequencies is a little too Quantum Leap, but it opens up some doors for the Flash, and the Rouges.

Just getting to see some characters that we don't hear from alot is cool. Who doesn't love Darkseid????

THE CONS:

I think DC is trying too hard to "fix" continuity. There is a point where leaving well enough alone is sound advice, and DC is getting mighty close. They really just need to answer the questions the last couple of years have raised, and then move on.

TOOOOOO MUCH!!!
Jimmy Olsen has crazy powers, Black Adam has his powers back, the Rouges, The Monitors, it is too much. I think the problem is that it is way too hard to keep tabs on everything week to week.

Basically, I like this series, simply because it is interesting. I like the bounty hunter that appears in issue 46. I think forerunner can play out to be something cool. My biggest concern is that DC will leave the series with more questions to be answered, thus starting a trend of crappy weekly books. If they can answer the questions we have had since Identity Crisis and move on, I think all will work out. Besides, there are way too many good books out from DC currently for them to blow them all on COUNTDOWN.

O HAI MLTIVERZ!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 07:27:00 +0000

Via LOLBOTS. O rly? Ya rly.

Batman: Icon or Big Dork?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 18:00:00 +0000

“Whenever I read a Batman comic book, (the writers) always make a point of saying he dresses like a giant bat,” Van Sciver says. “He is clearly a man with pointy little ears on his head, and he wears bed sheets.”

from an Scripps Howard featurette on artist Ethan Van Sciver (via the Blog@Newsarama)

Absolutely did not see this coming... Mark Waid returns to The Flash!

noreply@blogger.com (mrkvm) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 19:25:00 +0000

So, Mark Waid is returning The Flash?

And they're killing the current series and picking up with the old numbering?

And Daniel Acuna will be drawing it?

Wow.

I for one totally did not see that one coming! Read all about it here!

Although I think things have improved since Guggenheim took over the book, this is probably a smart move on DC's part. This should get one of their flagship titles completely back on track with a writer generally beloved by fans of the character.

I've actually never read Waid's original run, but I was a huge fan of what Geoff Johns did on the book. I may have to pick up the Waid trades now.

Planetary nearly done!

noreply@blogger.com (mrkvm) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 21:18:00 +0000

This little note from our friend Warren Ellis deserves a little comment here at FBC. Planetary is at least partially responsible for getting me interested in comics again after a long break. It's also one of the best series you will ever read. I mean, like, Watchmen good. Seriously. While it will be a while before this issue sees the light of day and even longer before we see a final collection, it's great to know that this is finally nearing completion

From the Bad Signal:

Almost ten years to the month that John Cassaday and I had our
first conversation at San Diego about creating a new series: I have
just completed and delivered the full script for PLANETARY #27,
the final issue of the series.

I am now going to get drunk and find something to have sex
with. I'm home alone, so the chinchilla has a right to look nervous.

Done. Never ask me anything about it again. DONE.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #30 Ramblings

noreply@blogger.com (mrkvm) — Thu, 31 May 2007 13:50:00 +0000

First off, goodbye to Mark Waid and Barry Kitson, who overall did a great job on this current iteration of the Legion. This is actually the first time I've read a Legion book, and it was a blast.

It's too bad Waid and Kitson didn't get to work this story uninterrupted, but I thought the fill-in teams did a spectacular job of keeping a continuity of voice/style. My only real problem is that this issue has, at times, a "rush to pack everything we wanted to do in" feel to it. They could have almost used one more issue to wrap things up. I think I'm going to go back and read the whole story in one go and see how it all holds together.

Alright now, kids, spoilers ahead...

The resolution of the Wanderers/Dominators storyline completely works for me. Sure, the phantom zone is being used as a bit of a Deus Ex Machina here, but I thought it was well-played. And you just know there's no way Cos would kill a whole race outright. Plus, it keeps Mon-El out there to be used in the future.

But what I really wanted to talk about was the end. I'm sorry, but if you aren't geeking out about the Knights Tempus, Galactic Defenders Of The 41st Century, then you don't really care about the DC Universe, do you? :-)

Just how great is that? Of course there's more future in the DCU than just the 31st century, and this opens things up to more continuity/timeline insanity, which I'm growing to just embrace as part of being a DC fan. Here's hoping someone runs with this concept somewhere (the new Booster Gold series might be a good place to start).

The Countdown Continues

noreply@blogger.com (mrkvm) — Wed, 30 May 2007 22:09:00 +0000

Oh, my. Nice.

Countdown 51 Quick Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (mrkvm) — Tue, 15 May 2007 02:26:00 +0000

Sadly my real job has kept me from contributing much here of late, but I wanted to post a lightning round of my quick impressions from Countdown #51, which I literally just read.

This is NOT 52. No, it's a totally different beast, and that's likely for the best. Get over it folks.
Man, I'm a sucker for all the cosmic mojo.
Credit Geoff Johns' fantastic run on The Flash for actual making the Rogues readable despite their inherent goofiness. Paul Dini is a good choice for doing something decent with the rogues, which leads me to...
You know, this comic is FUN. Dini is one of those people that can walk the line between goofy, mad fun and deep story (yeah, of course Darkseid has a cosmic chess set!). Let's hope the other writers follow his lead.
The sequence with Red Hood and Duela Dent reads a little weird considering that Jason Todd has basically been a ruthless killer since he reappeared. Now he's worried about saving innocent lives? But still pulls his gun and shoots Duela out of the air? Unless of course....DUM DUM DUM....this is all happening on another earth! Okay, maybe that's t0o easy/goofy/stupid/whatever.

52 Skidoo: The 52 Exit Interviews

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 12 May 2007 05:31:00 +0000

Newsarama's Matt Brady has put the capstone on DC's historic (and overall excellent) weekly thrill ride 52 with a comprehensive set of interviews with the key personnel. Each one is fun and pulls back the curtain just enough to let fans in on what it looked like behind the scenes. My personal favorite is the interview with Grant Morrison, but that's probably not a surprise to anyone that knows my reading habits.

If you haven't had a chance to check them all out yourself, here are links to the complete set of interviews:

52 Weeks, 52 Works of Art...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 07 May 2007 00:56:00 +0000

Over at CBR, they've posted a gallery of all fifty-two covers created by J.G. Jones and Alex Sinclair for 52. This serves as a nice visual companion to Jones' "52 Covers Blog" over at Wizard Universe.

Every damn one of them is a work of art in it's own right – I hope comics fandom and historians never forget the sheer magnitude of that achievement.

Have a look back and enjoy!

FBC Worldwide Non-Exclusive: Warren Ellis talks "Doktor Sleepless"!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 22:59:00 +0000

Warren Ellis, writer extraordinaire, has finally broken his silence on his top secret new project from Avatar Press, Doktor Sleepless! In a worldwide non-exclusive, Mr. Ellis answers three questions about it for FBC (and anyone else with a thing for comics and a website to prove it).

Following is the totally unedited transcript of our top secret correspondence:

Fanboy Corps: How did the idea of DOKTOR SLEEPLESS come to you?

Warren Ellis: The day I reanimated Abe Vigoda. Check his website. He's still going. I became a Mad Scientist on that day. See all those two-headed animals being born now? You think those are flukes?

FBC: What do you want readers to know about DOKTOR SLEEPLESS?

WE: DOKTOR SLEEPLESS knows which way the wind is blowing. DOKTOR SLEEPLESS feels real weird and has stars in his beard. Except he doesn't have a beard. DOKTOR SLEEPLESS is the smoke that banishes sleep in the night. DOKTOR SLEEPLESS has never raped a schoolgirl with his tentacles. DOKTOR SLEEPLESS does not go to the toilet.

FBC: Will DOKTOR SLEEPLESS eat our souls?

WE: DOKTOR SLEEPLESS hates empty calories. DOKTOR SLEEPLESS likes MAO inhibitors. DOKTOR SLEEPLESS drinks blood and milk in the Masai manner. DOKTOR SLEEPLESS invalidates all manufacturer's guarantees.

There you have it faithful readers: there is a God, and his name is Doktor Sleepless! More on this breaking story as it develops...

See Also:
Three words: "Future Science Jesus"

My Favorite Comic Book....Ever!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Maximus) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 01:40:00 +0000

I thought long and hard about all the books I have ever read, and after lots of deliberation I have decided that my favorite comic of all time is.....Spectacular Spider-Man 200.

The great thing about this book is the dark tone and spooky feelings it gave me as a kid, and still does to this day. Harry Osborn has once again donned the mantle of the Green Goblin, and is out to destroy both Spider-Man and Peter Parker. Throughout the issue, Harry struggles with the madness of being the Green Goblin, (much like his father did), and with his twisted perception of Peter ruining his life. Harry gives up on his wife and son, and goes mad with thoughts of revenge. In the book, all to familiar scenes of pain and memories of the past haunt Peter, and Mary Jane, as Harry Osborn interferes with their lives. There is a great scene in which the Green Goblin kidnaps M.J. and confronts her at the place of Gwen Stacy's death. But instead of shattered Spidey's life by killing her, he pledges that no matter what happens between the Green Goblin and Spider-Man, she will never be harmed. and the Goblin, and the insanity and I guess the great thing about this book is you can really see the eternal struggle between Spidey bloodlust that consumes the Osborn family. In the end, the serum Harry takes to defeat Spider-Man kills him, but not before becoming a hero himself. I wish comics could be "remade" like they do with movies. It would be great to see this book drawn by an artist that could really add to the darkness of the story. Nothing against Sal Bushema, but the art is totally 90's.

If you get a chance, read this book. It is a great story about a character that can never find a balance between his normal life and his life behind the mask.

Spectacular Spider-Man 200
Marvel Comics 1993
J.M. DeMatteis
Sal Buscema

Awesome, just awesome!

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Maximus) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:25:00 +0000

Newsarama is reporting that soon, very soon, we will witness the first comic adaptation on Broadway......"Spider-Man: THE MUSICAL!" Apparently, there are some big names attached to this project, and it will get underway this July.

I would fly to New York to see this show, and to hear a chorus sing, "Spider-man, Spider-man, does whatever a spider can".

Check it!

Three words: "Future Science Jesus"

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:15:00 +0000

One look at this and I knew immediately that I'll be reading Doktor Sleepless.

More news on this one from FBC very soon...

FBC Wants To Know: Simonson's Orion?

noreply@blogger.com (mrkvm) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:37:00 +0000

So, I was reading this article all about Walt Simonson's Orion series for DC from the early 2000's, and, you know, it sounds really fun. As a general fan of all things New Gods-related and with the obvious importance of these characters in upcoming DC universe happenings, I got to wondering if I should track some of this run down. I see there's a collection of the early issues, but I'd have to scour the virtual back issue bins on the internet to get the rest.

So, good readers, FBC wants to know...what are your thoughts on this series? Post your thoughts and opinions to the comments section.

It's gonna be a Black Summer

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 17:26:00 +0000

One of my favorite writers, Warren Ellis, is going to be messing with heads everywhere this August (well, more so than usual I guess). It all started with a dare from Avatar Press chief William Christensen:

"...[H]e bet me I couldn't come up with a high-concept superhero 'event' book that naturally featured all new characters and ideas, but also hit some of the notes of a standard Big Two event program. Huge technical challenge, and I like those, because they keep me sharp. It took me more than a year, mind you... Until I hit on the two ideas. What if a superhero killed the President? And the underpinning: where do you draw the line?"

And thus was born Black Summer.

With art from Juan Jose Ryp (he who draws like Geof Darrow on acid) and published by Avatar (they who are known for anything but superhero books), I don't think this is going to be quite like anything we've seen before. All of which totally guarantees I'll be buying it.

Wonder Woman #6: Gold or Garbage?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Maximus) — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 23:11:00 +0000

The new issue of Wonder Woman was a cool step in the right direction. Diana is at a point in her superhero career where a secret identity is needed. How to go about maintaining said identity is the theme for this latest run. Plus, she is ordered to do everything in her power to apprehend Wonder Woman. How do you catch yourself? Overall, I had fun with the issue, and I have high hopes for this run. We shall see if the new scribe, Jodi Picoult is the real deal or not. The interiors are not as consistent as I would like, but overall, a good book. So what do you think? Gold, or garbage?

The FBC Question: Who is Rip Hunter...Really?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 22:08:00 +0000

With the announcement that Geoff Johns will be launching a Booster Gold series with Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund and comics newcomer Jeff Katz, we know that everyone's favorite super capitalist will survive 52. But what about his partner in time Rip Hunter? Do we even know who he really is?

Lots of hints have been dropped throughout the weekly series that Rip's hidden his true identity so that his time-traveling enemies can't find him before he grows up to become their biggest headache. So is he someone DC readers might already know, or a nobody that secretly rose to greatness? What's your theory? Better share it quick before the answers turn up in the last month of 52...or in Booster's new book!

Gail Simone to leave Birds of Prey

noreply@blogger.com (mrkvm) — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 16:52:00 +0000

What?!?

Friend of mine just tipped me to this. Apparently it showed up in the DC Nation column for this week's books, but I won't get those until Monday. Newsarama has an interview here, though.

Simone has consistently impressed on this book. Any time I thought about maybe not reading it any longer, she's done something to bring me back and get me excited. Sorry to see her go. We'll have to see how her replacement, Sean McKeever, does on the book. I always hear great stuff about him, but I've never actually read any of his work.

Moving on, in the interview mentioned above, Gail says this:

But the truth of this matter is, I was simply offered a project I couldn't turn down. A dream book with a dream art team, and a real chance to reshape comics’ history. DC's always been great to me, but this is just...insane. It's unbelievably exciting.

And I want to pour everything I've got into it. I had to let something go, and for reasons that I think will make more sense as things are revealed, it meant letting go of some beloved bird friends of mine.

Let the speculation begin! I can't imagine what's she's talking about. A monthly like JLA or Wonder Woman? Or a big miniseries event? Maybe it's what's Countdown is Counting Down to?

Mrkvm's pick of the week for 03/28/07

noreply@blogger.com (mrkvm) — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:52:00 +0000

This week was tough, as both 52 and Green Lantern were fantastic issues. However, my pick goes to Batman 664. Despite scheduling problems, Grant Morrison's run on this book is really shaping up to be phenomenal.

This issue is essentially broken into two parts. The first focuses on Bruce Wayne as a character, something Morrison has said he wanted to emphasize. The second shows Batman tracking down some leads no one else cares about, which in turn leads Batman to meet a frightening (and familiar?) foe. A new mystery brews with mentions of the black casebook, and there's also some nice references to earlier in Morrison's Batman run, which make me realize that he's slowly building a bigger story. I also think that this issue is the best so far drawn by Andy Kubert, who has been a little spotty for me on this book.

Ultimately, though, reading this comic reminded me of being in 7th grade, when I first became a more serious comics reader. Batman and Detective Comics were my favorites back then, even if some of those stories (Death in the Family, among others) seem a bit goofy now. Morrison's Batman seems to be mining the good parts of that era and others to build the post-Infinite Crisis Batverse. Can't wait to see where this goes next.

Comics to Film: 300

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 03:26:00 +0000

I saw 300 a few weeks back, and wanted to post a few quick thoughts about it before I forget...

First off, it was awesome! Much better than the original story from Frank Miller, in fact (IMHO). While director Zach Snyder only fiddled a little bit with the source material, it really worked brilliantly in the translation to the big screen. Never have I seen a more "manly" film, but whether in spite or because of the intense violence, it was absolutely beautiful to look at. Add to that amazing performances by Gerard Butler and Lena Headey that really sold the story at the human level, and you've got an outstanding film.

All this gives me a real hope that Snyder may actually do a respectable job with the upcoming Watchmen film.

Milligan's Infinity, Inc.

noreply@blogger.com (mrkvm) — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 20:43:00 +0000

Just a quick note to mention Peter Milligan's upcoming Infinity, Inc. title for DC. There's a nice little write-up from CBR here that's definitely got me interested. I quite enjoyed the Steel/Natasha/Lex/Everyman storyline in 52, so it's nice to hear that he'll be working with some of that back story. Plus, Milligan is one of those writers who gets me interested just by being involved.

Lastly, I found the blog of the artist, Max Fiumara, who looks to have a really great style.

I'll be looking forward to seeing some previews from this in the upcoming months.